Current Professional Situation

First of all, I'd like to apologize for not being able to post much (or at all) recently. Life got extremely busy this summer and I got off track here with the blog. Luckily, it's time to change that though! I plan on posting periodically throughout the school year.

In this post, I'd like to talk a little bit about my current professional situation, since I've now held 3 different jobs since the last time I posted.

I recently started an internship with the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, where I am working as a Financial Representative. I am thrilled to participate in this internship, which has been recognized as a Top-10 internship program for 13 straight years! I've obtained my licenses for selling life and health insurance in North Carolina, and I can't wait to help people across the state create financial security for themselves and their families! We actually just had training in Raleigh this weekend and I'm diving into the job this week. It will be tough to balance this intensive internship with my heavy course load, but I'm always up for a challenge!

This past summer, I worked an internship with Team Connection, an athletic apparel company located in my hometown of High Point, NC. The internship was great! It was my first internship and I really enjoyed it. I worked on a team of about 10-12 interns, including students from UGA, Wake Forest, and High Point University. As interns, we were responsible for contacting local tennis professionals and assisting them with their event needs, for their tournaments or anything else they may have had going on. Towards the end of the summer, we also worked extremely hard to help promote Team Connection's annual warehouse sale. The warehouse sale wound up being a record-setting event, with sales of over $25,000!

I also worked part time this summer at Gilley's Installation, another local company in High Point. The company is owned by Ray Gilley, the father of one of my good friends and high school baseball teammates, Jeff. I worked as a warehouse attendant, along with 5 or 6 others. Our main client at Gilley's Installation is BB&T. As BB&T continuously brings in new computer and phone equipment for their employees, the old equipment from office locations all over the east coast isshipped to Gilley's Installation and dropped off at the warehouse. My job was to properly retire the equipment, by scanning it in and providing specific details for each piece of equipment (serial number, etc). After that, we skidded the equipment up and shipped it back out to be recycled. This job was manually intensive, which actually appealed a lot to me because I'm a believer that manual labor creates a good work ethic for people my age. The job was a lot of fun because I was working with some close friends and we were able to spend a lot of time together all summer.

I guess that's about it for now, but I just wanted to do a quick recap about what I've been up to as far as my professional life goes. I've got some thoughts on the whole UNC football situation that I plan on sharing soon, whenever I get a little more free time. Be on the lookout for that, but until then, have a good one and I'll talk to you soon!

SEC Struggles in Bowl Season

There is nothing more annoying during college football season than listening to announcers constantly hyping up the SEC as being an immortal conference, a man among boys compared to all other leagues.

The hype machine has been going full-force this season, with constant slobbering over Florida quarterback Tim Tebow during his senior year being the most common topic. Alabama running back Mark Ingram winning the Heisman didn't slow the hype machine down any either.

However, Tebow and Ingram have something in common: they play for the only two SEC teams that are truly good enough to talk trash. Both Florida and Alabama are good. Very good.

The problem is, after these two teams there is a sharp decline in the quality of football that's played by the rest of the teams in the SEC.

SEC fans wouldn't agree with that though. Fans from the other ten schools in the SEC constantly pump up their conference, acting as if playing in the SEC is the most daunting task you could imagine and every game on the schedule is against a quality opponent. Never mind the fact that Florida cruised through their entire regular season schedule undefeated while beating exactly one (1) ranked team all year, against LSU in Baton Rouge. Doesn't sound like a murderer's row schedule to me.

When you really dig down and observe the facts rather than the hype created by the media and fans, it's not hard to see how average the SEC really is when you get past Florida and Alabama.

Okay, the SEC sent 10 teams to bowl games this year. But when you look closely at it, six of the ten bowl teams from the SEC had mediocre 7-5 records during the regular season (Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Auburn, and Georgia).

SEC fans will say that this is due to the extreme competitiveness of the league, where there's never an easy win and you don't get to play against any cupcakes. That's a reasonable claim, but the SEC fans sang a completely different tune last year when the ACC was the conference that sent 10 teams to bowl games. Last year, the SEC party line response to the ACC's 10 bowl participants was that the ACC is full of mediocrity. Yet when the SEC does it this year, it's portrayed as a display of the extreme quality depth in the SEC. That's the definition of a double standard, my friends.

How have the results been on the field, where the games are actually played? The SEC has struggled, to the point where many SEC fans are embarrassed by the conference's performance so far.

To date, the SEC is 5-4 in it's bowl games, with the only team still waiting to play being Alabama, on Thursday night in the BCS National Championship game. Even without looking deeply into the games, 5-4 is obviously pretty mediocre. When looking at the way the games have played out, it becomes even more apparent that the SEC is simply overrated.

The first loss for the SEC came when Kentucky was defeated 21-13 at the hands of Clemson in the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl on December 27. This one wasn't so bad for the SEC considering that Kentucky isn't known as a football school, but the Wildcats did defeat traditional SEC powerhouses Georgia and Auburn this year, and were touted all year by SEC fans as an underrated team who would thrive in almost any other conference.

The next defeat the SEC suffered also came at the hands of the ACC, but this one was on a bigger stage. Virginia Tech absolutely throttled Tennessee in the Chik-fil-a bowl on New Year's Eve by a score of 37-14. During the season, A Tennessee fan told me that he thought the Vols would be the second best team in the ACC. He also said that Tennessee's highly publicized defense would shut down Virginia Tech's mediocre offense, which ranked 6th in the ACC. So much for that. The Hokies racked up 438 yards and flat out embarrassed Tennessee and first year head coach Lane Kiffin under the bright lights.

On New Years Day, LSU met Penn State in the Capital One Bowl, considered by many people to be the most prestigious non-BCS bowl. Despite the theory that the big, slow Penn State team from the Big 10 couldn't keep up with the speedy LSU Tigers, Penn State came out and punished LSU early and often. The Tigers were held to just 41 yards rushing, and Penn State overcame a late LSU rally to win the game 19-17.

Perhaps the most embarrassing performance of all by the SEC this bowl season was the exhibition that was put on by the South Carolina Gamecocks. Playing against a 7-5 UConn team from the Big East in the PapaJohns.com Bowl, few people expected South Carolina to have much trouble. Heck, if I didn't know that South Carolina only has 4 bowl wins in school history, I may have picked South Carolina to win myself. As it turned out, the Gamecocks laid an egg. They barely even scored a point. UConn led 20-0 with 3 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter before South Carolina finally got on the scoreboard. After having a Gamecock fan tell me that South Carolina could beat UNC by 3 touchdowns and win the ACC, it was rather amusing watching UConn drag them around the field for 3 hours.

The interesting thing about these 4 losses from the SEC is that not only did they lose the games, but all 4 of the teams also failed to cover the spread. LSU was favored to win, and lost in a close game. Kentucky was a one touchdown underdog and lost by 8 points, so they at least came close to covering. Tennessee was a slight underdog and got beat by 23 points. South Carolina was a slight favorite and still got rocked by two touchdowns.

Aside from the SEC's 4 losses in bowl games thus far, even their wins have been very shaky. If not for two overtime wins against vastly inferior opponents, the SEC could be 3-6 right now instead of 5-4.

In the Outback Bowl, Auburn was heavily favored against Northwestern, a school known much more for it's academics than it's football. After a 4th quarter collapse, Auburn needed overtime and a lot of luck to win the game 38-35.

In a similar situation, Arkansas was heavily favored against East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl. The Razorbacks had to rely on 3 consecutive missed field goals from ECU kicker Ben Hartman in the final minutes, and even with ECU's special teams woes Arkansas barely escaped with a 20-17 overtime win.

Ole Miss made a relatively good showing in the Cotton Bowl, beating Oklahoma State 21-7. However, it should be noted that the game was much closer than the final score indicates. It was tied 7-7 until Ole Miss scored to take the lead with 4:03 to play, and then scored again on an interception return for a touchdown with 3:12 remaining to ice it. Also, Oklahoma State's best offensive weapon Dez Bryant was inactive for the game.

Georgia played well and handled Texas A&M easily in the Independence Bowl, 44-20, but that was no shocker when you take into account some of the ugly losses Texas A&M has suffered this season: 47-19 against Arkansas, 62-14 against Kansas State and 65-10 against Oklahoma.

Then of course there was Florida, who put on a clinic in the Sugar Bowl as they routed previously undefeated Cincinnati by a score of 51-24. As I said, Florida is legit and so is Alabama. I'm not surprised at all that Florida went out and took care of business on the field. It would be great if the rest of the SEC could learn to walk the walk like Florida does, rather than just talking the talk all year long and falling flat on their faces in bowl games.

UNC Basketball Analysis, 12/25

With the loss of Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green from last year's national championship team, UNC had a lot of question marks coming into this season and many of these questions are still in the process of being answered.

Carolina has lost 3 non-conference games so far this year, after not losing any games before ACC play in either of the past two seasons. But before Tar Heel fans start to panic, it must be pointed out that UNC has played a ridiculously difficult schedule up to this point. All three of their losses have come to teams that are currently in the top-5 and undefeated (#2 Texas, #3 Kentucky, #5 Syracuse). To go along with these losses, UNC has two wins over ranked teams. They took down #15 Ohio State in Madison Square Garden and defeated #9 Michigan State in Chapel Hill in a December rematch of last year's national championship game.

Although UNC will not be the favorites to cut down the nets in 2010, it's not out of the question for them to make another deep run in the NCAA tournament if they get a good draw and peak at the right time.

Here are my individual player breakdowns based upon the first 12 games of the 2010 season:

• Larry Drew has been better than many fans expected at the point guard position, currently sitting in the top 10 in the nation in assists. In the game against Michigan State, Drew had his coming out party as he outplayed Kalin Lucas, the reigning Big 10 Player of the Year. He is still not a huge threat offensively but he has the ability to knock down jumpers if he has space, and he does a nice job of distributing the ball to his teammates. He is a little erratic at times but so far he has been everything that reasonable Tar Heel fans could have asked for, and his numbers across the board actually compare favorably to Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton's stats from their first years at running the point for UNC.
  
• Marcus Ginyard has battled through another minor foot injury recently, but overall his play this year has been what you would expect from a senior glue guy. He has improved his jump shot considerably from where it was in his last full season in 2008, and has become a reliable outside shooter if he is left open. He is still the Tar Heels' top perimeter defender, and is 3rd on the team in scoring despite not having a tremendous skill set on the offensive end.
• Will Graves is a wild card on this team as he returns from his suspension last year. Although he is probably the best pure shooter on the team, his play has been predictably inconsistent from game to game and Coach Williams has not been pleased with his play. To his credit, he responded well when he was replaced in the starting lineup in the Tar Heels' most recent game against Marshall, coming off the bench to notch 13 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
• Deon Thompson is currently the leading scorer for UNC, averaging 16.1 PPG. After being the 5th option on a loaded team last year, he has been asked to carry a lot of the offensive responsibilities and has responded relatively well. The key for Deon is to maintain his high level of play as ACC play begins and the competition continues to stiffen. His patented turnaround jump shot has looked good and his outstanding free throw shooting (81%) has been a nice surprise after he has struggled from the charity stripe in years past.
  
• Ed "Sleeves" Davis is the leading rebounder and shot blocker on the team and has recently emerged as the dominant force that many people around the nation were expecting him to be this season. The best pro prospect on the team, Davis turned down being a lottery pick last year after his freshman season in order to come back to Chapel Hill and fine tune his game. I'm personally a big believer that the 2010 Tar Heels will go as far as Ed Davis can take them.
• Tyler Zeller is the first man off the bench, and he's a unique player that I consider UNC lucky to have. He is a 7-footer who excels at running the floor and picking up easy buckets in transition. After being limited last year with a broken left wrist, Zeller has shown what he can do this year after putting on 20 pounds in the offseason. He continues to improve with each passing game and he has the best offensive skill set of anyone on the team. He has been extremely efficient on the offensive end, averaging double figures in points despite the fact that he is only playing 16 minutes per game. His defense and rebounding still need work, but he is getting there. I look for him to become a force in the paint for Carolina sooner rather than later.
• Dexter Strickland has emerged recently to be the aggressive slasher that UNC desperately needs. Strickland is the most explosive athlete on the team, and is one of the few Tar Heels that is capable of creating his own shot. After struggling with turnovers early in the season, Dexter appears to have settled in and adjusted to the speed of the college game. I love the swagger and confidence that he brings to the table, and he has proven to be cold-blooded - he has nailed buzzer beaters right before halftime on multiple occasions already this season.
  
• David Wear has done a nice job of playing the small forward position for UNC, despite the fact that he's 6'10 and is more of a natural power forward. He has shown off a nice 3-point stroke and actually leads the team in 3 point field goal percentage, although he hasn't taken quite the volume of shots that some of the starters have. He possesses a high basketball IQ and has earned more playing time lately, and even started the Tar Heels' most recent game. Roy Williams continues to search for an answer at the small forward position, with no clear-cut starter stepping up to take the job full-time.
• John Henson was the highest rated player in UNC's freshman class, but it's clear that he is more of a project than some UNC fans were hoping he would be. After playing in the post in high school, Henson is learning how to play the small forward position on the fly. This is not an easy adjustment, especially considering the fact that ACC level basketball is a big adjustment for any freshman, much less a 6'10 guy learning to play on the perimeter for the first time in his career. Henson has shown flashes of brilliance with a few highlight dunks and rejections, and I get the feeling that he is ready to break out at any moment. When he is able to add some muscle in the weight room and become more consistent with his jump shot, he will be a major factor for UNC.
  
• Travis Wear hasn't gotten an abundance of minutes this year due to the fact that UNC's frontcourt is so talented and so deep. However, Travis has shown signs of being a banger down low and I really like his toughness. Like his twin brother David, he has a college-ready body as a freshman and a high basketball IQ. While he spends most of his time in the paint, he also has the ability to step out and shoot from outside and will certainly be a valuable player for UNC by the time he is an upperclassman.
• Justin Watts has been one of the pleasant surprises of the year thus far for UNC. He still isn't logging a lot of minutes, but after being almost a complete non-factor on last year's team (he routinely came in to play with the 4 walk-ons) he has shown drastic improvement from last year to this year. He is still a bit raw, but he is a heck of an athlete who has provided a spark off the bench for UNC on more than one occasion already this season.
  
• Leslie McDonald has struggled to find his niche so far this year. I expected him to come in and be ready to contribute immediately, since he's known for having a well-rounded game with no glaring weaknesses. However, sometimes when a talented player arrives on a college campus and receives limited playing time, it can be hard to step on the court cold and make an impact when you don't have time to get in a rhythm. This is what Leslie is going through right now, but I really believe that he will come up big for Carolina in the future. He's shown promising signs as a defender and I think his offensive game will take off tremendously once he gains some confidence and sees the ball go through the net a couple times.
  

Obviously, these player evaluations are not final and can change by the game. It's very tough to form a solid opinion about these players, considering the fact that most of these guys are underclassmen who haven't played in but a handful of college games. All of these kids are talented and have great attitudes, and will undoubtedly get better as the season goes on and they continue to develop.

I'm excited about watching this Tar Heel team grow into a force to be reckoned with by March, and I think they are a team that nobody will want to play in the NCAA Tournament.

2009 Meineke Car Care Bowl Preview (UNC vs Pitt)

For the first time since 1997-1998, UNC is bowl eligible in back-to-back seasons. The Tar Heels return to Charlotte this year for their 2nd straight appearance in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. After falling to West Virginia 31-30 last year, Carolina's opponent in 2009 will be #17 Pittsburgh (9-3), who was mere seconds away from pulling off an upset against Cincinnatti on the final weekend of the regular season. A win in that game would have clinched the Big East title for the Panthers and sent them to a BCS game.

It has been a season of ups and downs for UNC, as they overcame a rough 4-3 start to win four of their last five games, finishing up the regular season with an 8-4 record for the second straight year. They have notched huge wins against the likes of Virginia Tech and Miami, but have also experienced frustrating losses against inferior teams such as NC State and Virginia.

All in all, given the injuries the Tar Heels suffered on the offensive line and the fact that they lost 3 key receivers to the NFL after the 2008 season (Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate, and Brooks Foster), the season has been a relatively successful one for Carolina under 3rd year coach Butch Davis. Progress is clearly being made with the football program in Chapel Hill, and Tar Heel fans are optimistic about what the future holds for UNC football.

With a season-opening primetime game already scheduled for next September against SEC powerhouse LSU, a win in the Meineke Car Care Bowl would be very important for the Heels and provide them with much needed momentum heading into Spring practice. A win over Pittsburgh would send the message that UNC has what it takes to join the conversation as one of college football's elite programs. Long referred to as a "sleeping giant" in the college football world, UNC has made a commitment to bringing big time football to Chapel Hill by hiring Butch Davis and pouring money into upgrading the facilities.


The key to UNC's success this season has undoubtedly been it's stellar defense. The Tar Heels have been ranked in the top-10 in total defense all season long, and a majority of the key players on the defensive unit are juniors. Although they have another year of college eligibility remaining, a handful of the players have caught the eyes of the professional scouts as well. At the end of this season, one or more of the members of UNC's defense may elect to forego their senior seasons and fulfill their dreams of playing in the NFL.

For this reason, there has been a lot of chatter this week about whether the Meineke Car Care Bowl could be the last time playing together for standout juniors Marvin Austin, Quan Sturdivant, Bruce Carter, Kendric Burney and Deunta Williams. There are no definitive answers as to who will be back next year at this point, but if UNC is able to hang on to a majority of these players they will certainly have an elite defense again in 2010 and be in great position to compete for an ACC Championship.

For the time being, the Tar Heels must focus on trying to beat a very tough Pittsburgh team. The Panthers were picked as the preseason favorites to win the Big East, and they fell just short of doing so as they blew a 31-10 lead in the final game of the regular season against undefeated Cincinnati, losing a heartbreaker by a score of 45-44.

Pittsburgh's electric running back Dion Lewis (pictured left) will certainly test the talented UNC defense. The 5'8 freshman has rushed for 1,640 yards and 16 touchdowns this season, and has topped the 100-yard mark in seven straight games. In the aforementioned season finale against Cincinnati, he carried the ball 47 times for 194 yards and 3 touchdowns.

One advantage it appears the Tar Heels will have in this game is fan support. In last year's bowl game against West Virginia, the Mountaineer fans traveled in large numbers to Charlotte and created a relatively neutral atmosphere for the sold out contest in Bank of America Stadium.

However, this year's game hasn't been quite as hot of a ticket, mostly due to the fact that Pittsburgh has reportedly only sold about 5,000 tickets. Estimated attendance for this year's game is about 45,000 according to bowl officials, way down from the 75,000 who attended last year. Although it is always disappointing when there are empty seats in the stands, the silver lining from a UNC perspective is that the crowd will be overwhelmingly pro-Carolina.

All in all, the Meineke Car Care Bowl is one of the most intriguing matchups of the bowl season. Both teams have showed flashes of brilliance this year and appear to be fairly evenly matched. Carolina fans are hoping that 2009 goes down in history right alongside 1982 and 1993, as years where their beloved Tar Heels bring home a national championship on the hardwood and a victory in a bowl game all during the same calendar year.